{"id":202,"date":"2021-11-12T00:53:17","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T00:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/au.test\/about-au\/victories\/"},"modified":"2024-07-07T05:50:36","modified_gmt":"2024-07-07T09:50:36","slug":"victories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/about-au\/victories\/","title":{"rendered":"Victories"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Our Victories<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For more than seven decades, Americans United has fought to preserve the church-state wall. Here are some of our most impressive victories.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The cornerstone of personal freedoms<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Separation of church and state is the cornerstone of many of our personal freedoms. Without church-state separation, we can no longer be a free society.<\/p>

Separation of church and state keeps our public schools focused on teaching, not preaching. It ensures that our most intimate decisions, such as who we will marry and whether to have children, rest in our hands. It protects our right to worship, or not worship, as we see fit. These vital rights are not self-executing. They need support from Americans. Americans United rallies those defenders. While the full scope of AU\u2019s work is too broad to outline briefly, here are some highlights from decades past.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Birth control pack from the 50s.<\/div><\/div>

1950s: AU Fights For Birth Control Access<\/h3>
In the 1950s and \u201860s, Americans United fought for the right of Americans to make decisions about reproduction and family planning without religious interference. AU highlighted oppressive laws in some states that banned birth control and rallied opposition.<\/br><\/br>\n\nThe U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark 1965 ruling adopted the position long held by Americans United and declared the use of birth control a private matter within the constitutional zone of privacy.<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Birth control pack from the 50s.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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1960s: AU Sets The Record Straight On School Prayer<\/h3>
In 1962 and \u201863, the Supreme Court issued landmark rulings making it clear that public schools could not pressure or compel students to take part in religious worship by sponsoring prayer and Bible readings.<\/br><\/br>\n\nThese decisions were widely misunderstood, and AU acted quickly to correct the record. AU pointed out that truly voluntary prayer and Bible reading was still legal in schools and that only coercive practices were banned. Sixty years later, AU is still responding to Religious Right misinformation about these rulings.<\/div>
Prayer In Public Schools: It\u2019s Time To Set The Record Straight!<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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1960s and \u201970s: AU Defends Public Education<\/h3>
When sectarian pressure groups, private school advocates and anti-government extremists joined forces to divert taxpayer funding away from public schools and toward private and religious institutions, Americans United was quick to respond. AU\u2019s charter listed defense of public schools, which welcome children of all faith and non-faith backgrounds, as a primary goal.\n\nThanks to AU\u2019s work, ballot proposals to award tax money to private schools through voucher schemes were defeated by voters in state after state -- a trend that continues today.\nThanks to AU\u2019s work, ballot proposals to award tax money to private schools through voucher schemes were defeated by voters in state after state -- a trend that continues today.\nThese decisions were widely misunderstood, and AU acted quickly to correct the record. AU pointed out that truly voluntary prayer and Bible reading was still legal in schools and that only coercive practices were banned. Sixty years later, AU is still responding to Religious Right misinformation about these rulings.<\/div>
The People Have Spoken: Private School Vouchers\u2019 Long Track Record Of Failure At The Ballot Box<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Jerry Falwell Sr. and then-President Ronald Reagan at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in 1984.<\/div><\/div>

1980s: AU Debunks The Lies Of The Religious Right<\/h3>
The rise of the Rev. Jerry Falwell\u2019s Moral Majority and other \u201cpro-family\u201d groups presented a new challenge to Americans United. These organizations relentlessly attack church-state separation, labeling it \u201cunconstitutional\u201d and even \u201cun-American.\u201d<\/br><\/br>\n\nAmericans United immediately leaped to the defense of the church-state wall and corrected the record. In Congress, in state legislatures, in courts of law and in the court of public opinion, AU met the Religious Right and demolished its facetious arguments, reminding all Americans that separation of church and state is uniquely American, a concept crafted by our Founders of which we can be proud.<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Jerry Falwell Sr. and then-President Ronald Reagan at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in 1984.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Jerry Falwell Sr. and then-President Ronald Reagan at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in 1984.<\/div><\/div>

1990s: AU Blocks Religious Extremists\u2019 Attempt To Rewrite First Amendment<\/h3>
Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his extremists allies in the Religious Right attempted to add a so-called \u201cReligious Freedom Amendment\u201d to the Constitution in 1994. The amendment had nothing to do with religious freedom -- it would have compelled students to pray in public schools, forced Americans to pay taxes to support religious groups and allowed government to endorse the signs, symbols and words of the majority faith.<\/br><\/br>\n\nAU and its allies swung into action. Thanks for our campaign to educate the public, opposition to the amendment mounted, and it failed to pass the House.\nAmericans United immediately leaped to the defense of the church-state wall and corrected the record. In Congress, in state legislatures, in courts of law and in the court of public opinion, AU met the Religious Right and demolished its facetious arguments, reminding all Americans that separation of church and state is uniquely American, a concept crafted by our Founders of which we can be proud.<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Jerry Falwell Sr. and then-President Ronald Reagan at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in 1984.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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2000s: Americans United Fights The \u2018Faith-Based\u2019 Initiative<\/h3>
The presidency of George W. Bush ushered in a new threat -- the so-called \u201cfaith-based\u201d initiative. Bush proposed funnelling millions to religious groups to provide social services -- without adequate safeguards to protect those in need.<\/br><\/br>\nAU was an early critic of the proposal, and we worked throughout the decade to ensure that faith-based programs did not become a license to discriminate -- a position we still take today. The Obama administration added protections to the program in an attempt to ensure that faith-based organizations did not use government money to discriminate, exclude or proselytize.<\/div>
Groups Urge Biden To Chart New Direction In \u2018Faith-Based\u2019 Office<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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2010s: Americans United Battles For Marriage Equality And LGBTQ Rights<\/h3>
As state and federal courts began recognizing marriage equality, aggressive Christian nationalist groups stepped up their efforts to base marriage law on theology by limiting marriage to one man and one woman. AU pushed back, insisting that marriage equality opponents articulate a secular rationale for their views, which they were unable to do.\n<\/br><\/br>\nWhen some local courts resisted the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2015 ruling that had the effect of legalizing marriage equality nationwide, AU went to court and won important victories on behalf of same-sex couples.<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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2016-2020: Americans United Fights The Trump Administration\u2019s Attacks On Religious Freedom<\/h3>
Donald Trump, swept into office with strong support from Christian nationalists, represented the most serious threat to church-state separation in the modern era. To appease his base, Trump issued a series of executive orders and policy changes that allowed for religion-based discrimination in a host of federal programs.\n<\/br><\/br>\nAmericans United met Trump in court, winning important victories. AU also exposed the troubling connections between Trump and religious extremists and educated Americans about the threat Trump and his allies posed to our rights.<\/div>
All The President\u2019s Men And Women: Members Of Trump\u2019s Evangelical Advisory Board Are Hard At Work Changing The Law<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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75 Years Of Activism<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For more than 75 years, Americans United\u2019s support for religious freedom protected by the church-state wall has never wavered. We\u2019ve stood up for Americans\u2019 right to decide for themselves when, how and if they want to worship and which religious groups, if any, to support. Join us!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDONATE<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our Victories For more than seven decades, Americans United has fought to preserve the church-state wall. Here are some of our most impressive victories. The cornerstone of personal freedoms Separation of church and state is the cornerstone of many of our personal freedoms. Without church-state separation, we can no longer be a free society. Separation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":188,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"issue_tax":[],"class_list":["post-202","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/202\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"issue_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.au.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_tax?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}